Garment structure



Oct. 31, 1950 THOMAS ETAL 2,527,973

GARMENT STRUCTURE Filed July 22,. 1948 Fig.5

INVENTORS' RnsETTA J. THOMAS BY WILLIAM Hfiocnmwrfi Patented Oct. 31,1950 GARMENT STRUCTURE I "Roset ta J. Thomas and William H. Hochmuth,

' "Danville, Ill., assignors to John Rissman & Son,

Danville, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 22, 1948,Serial No. 40,145

This invention relaes to improvements in garment structures and, moreparticularly, to the structures of depending edges of garments and to amethod of fabricating the same.

Nearly all kinds of ready-to-wear garments of the types having liningsare fabricated with the sleeves and body portions adjusted tostandardized lengths for each size of garment. Thus, when a purchaserrequiresa sleeve'or body length that is off standard, alterations mustbe effected on the depending edges of the sleeves or garment body toadjust the lengths thereof as required. Such alterations usually involveripping of the seam which joins the sleeve or body fabric to the lining,adjusting the lengths thereof, then restitching the lining to saidfabric, usually by a' hand seaming operation, and then pressing thefinished edge. We have found that in readyto-wear garments manypurchasers have the garments adjusted at the time of purchase toincreased lengths, either in the sleeves or in the body portions, orthey effect such alterations after the garments have been worn and haveshrunk in the process of cleaning. Particularly in the case of childrensready-to-wear clothes, where children outgrow clothes so rapidly, it isalways necessary to increase the lengths of various portions of thegarments subsequent to the time of purchase thereof.

Accordingly, it is an. object of our invention to provide, in a garmentat the time of fabrication thereof, 'a depending edge structure whichmay be easily operated on with a minimum of effort and skill to increasethe length of a particular portion of the garment;

Another object of our invention is the provision of an edge structure ofthe foregoing character which, after operation thereon to increase thelength thereof, presents a finished appearance identical with thatbefore operation thereon.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear inthe following description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a garment sleeve showingthe depending edge thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective 1 view, partly in crosssection, taken substantially on line 22 of Fi 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, partly in crosssection, and with the parts broken away, illustrating the manner ofeffecting a lengthening of the depending edge of the garment inaccordance with our invention.

1 Claim. (01. 2- 59) tially on line 4 4, of Fig. 3;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspefijrl tive view,.partly incrosssection, taken substan- "Fig; 5 isa similar view'of'a modification.

. Referring to the drawing,;,and particularlyto Fig. 1, the novel edgeof our invention indicated generally by the numeral I0 is shownasapplied to the depending edge 'of ;a sleeve although it will beunderstood that our invention may be applied to any {depending edge orto ayvertical edge of the body portion of a garment. The garment towhich our invention is applied is of conventional construction andcomprises an outer fabric I I and a lining fabric I2. In carrying outour invention, the outer fabric garment elements are first stitchedtogether to form sections or parts such as sleeves and a body portion.Each of these sections is matched with a lining section of correspondingshape with the respective finished or exterior surfaces of each incontiguous relationship. The outer fabric I I and lining I2 are joinedby a line of stitching I3 spaced from the edges I4 and I5. Another lineof stitching I6 is then applied in spaced parallel relationship to saidfirst line of stitching I3, the

spacing between the said lines of stitching being any desired distance,depending on the ultimate length to which it is desired to extend thegarment portion.

The fabric II and lining I2 are then opened up and folded back to placethe under sides of the respective fabrics in contiguous relationship,with the stitched portions arranged as in Fig. 2. The edge It is thenpressed in the conventional manner. In this condition, the edges I4 andI5 substantially reach to the fold line [1 and the outer fabric II isreversed at the fold line I! and connects to lining I2 at line of stitching IS. The edge ['0' in this condition presents a finished appearanceidentical with that of con-' 'ventional garments. I I

In order to increase the length of the garment portion'it is merelynecessary to sever the line of stitching I6, as with a knife blade, andthen to manipulate the fabric I I to the condition shown in Figs. 3 and4. The visible juncture between fabric II and lining I2 is now. at theline of stitching I3 and the fold line has been shifted downwardly toline I8. The actual increase in length of the garment portioncorresponds to the distance between the lines of stitching I 3 and IS.The edge I0 is then pressed inthe conventional manner to a flattenedcondition and it thereafter presents a finished appearance identicalwith that of edges of conventional garments.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a lengthening of a garmentportion such as a sleeve or body portion may be readily effected by anyunskilled person, since it is merely necessary to sever the upper lineof stitching I6 as with a knife blade and then to press the edge I0after the fabric has been manipulated to the new fold line [8.

It will be understood that the invention contemplates more than twolines of stitching, such as l3 and I6, as illustrated in the drawing.For example, the edge structure It] may be fabricated with three or morelines of stitching spaced from each other at desired distances toprovide for incremental adjustments in the lengths of garment portions.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, should a further lenghening of the garmentportion be necessary beyond the limit of the line of stitching such as[3, then the said line of stitching maybe severed and the fabric l lmanipulated to a new fold line IS. The

degree of extension is, of course, limited by the ric where usedthroughout the specification and claim is intended to include materialssuch as leather, plastics or any materials from which articles ofclothing may be fabricated.

We claim:

In an article of manufacture having an outer fabric anda lining, an edgestructure comprising a single ply of said lining and three plies of saidouter fabric, said last-mentioned plies of fabric being continuations ofsaid outer fabric with two of said plies being disposed inwardly of saidlining and being joined by a fold at the complemental edges of said twoplies and with one of said plies joined to said ply of lining by twolines of parallel stitching spaced from the edges thereof, said edgestructure being extensible by a severance of the line of stitchingfarthest removed from said edges.

' ROSETTA J. THOMAS.

WILLIAM-H. HOCHMUTI-I.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Rowland Jan. 31, 1911Number

